Do solar panels really work?

Assuming the pump can initiall lift the water the height really does not come into play as you are pumping up but the falling water acts like a siphon pulling down on the pump. If you draw a box around the entire system you are only raising water from the skimmer level and injecting it back at the surface for a net rise of about a foot or less. You do have the friction loss in the added piping but it should not be that big a factor. I put in 1.5" pipe for my two panels, way overkill but causes almost no head loss.